The PowerPuff Girls (1998 animated series)
The Powerpuff Girls is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. The show centers on Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three sisters withsuperpowers, as well as their father, the brainy scientist Professor Utonium, who all live in the city of Townsville. The girls are frequently called upon by the town's naïve mayor to help fight nearby criminals using their powers. McCracken originally developed the show in 1992 as a cartoon short entitled Whoopass Stew! while in his second year at CalArts. Following a name change, Cartoon Network featured the first Powerpuff Girls pilots in its animation showcase program What a Cartoon! in 1995 and 1996. The series made its official debut as a Cartoon Cartoon on November 18, 1998,2 with the final episode airing on March 25, 2005.3 A total of 78 episodes were aired in addition to two pilot shorts, a Christmas special, and a feature film. In addition, a tenth anniversary special was made in 2008. A CGI special was also made in 2014 without McCracken's input. From the "Monkey See, Doggie Do / Mommy Fearest" up to "Superfriends" episode from the 1998 Powerpuff Girls''series, it was produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and Cartoon Network. The rest of the episodes were produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The series has been nominated for six Emmy Awards, nine Annie Awards, and a Kids' Choice Award during its run. Spin-off media include an anime, three CD soundtracks, a home video collection, and a series of video games, as well as various licensed merchandise. The series has received generally positive reception and won four awards. Premise The show revolves around the adventures of three kindergarten aged girls with superpowers: Blossom (pink), Bubbles (blue), and Buttercup (green). The plot of an episode is usually some humorous variation of standard superhero and tokusatsu shows, with the girls using their powers to defend their town from villains and giant monsters. In addition, the girls have to deal with the normal issues that young children face, such as sibling rivalries, loose teeth, personal hygiene, going to school,bed wetting, or dependence on a security blanket. Episodes often contain hidden references to older pop culture (especially noticeable in the episode "Meet the Beat Alls," which is an homage to the Beatles). The cartoon always tries to keep different ideas within each episode with some small tributes and parodies thrown in.6 The show is set mainly in the city of Townsville, USA. Townsville is depicted as a major American city, with a cityscape consisting of several major skyscrapers. In his review of ''The Powerpuff Girls Movie, movie critic Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizzazz like a David Hockneyscenescape," and that the show is "one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art." Characters As depicted in the opening sequence of each episode, the Powerpuff Girls Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were created by Professor Utonium in an attempt to create the "perfect little girl" using a mixture of "sugar, spice, and everything nice". However, he accidentally spilled a mysterious substance called "Chemical X" into the mixture, creating three girls and granting all three superpowers including flight, super strength, super speed, near invulnerability, x-ray vision, super senses,heat vision, energy projection, invisibility, and control over lightning. In the original pilot, the accidental substance wasa can of "Whoopass", which was replaced by "Chemical X" in the aired version.8 The three girls all have oval-shaped heads, abnormally large eyes inspired by Margaret Keane's art,9 stubby arms and legs, and lack noses, ears, fingers, necks, and flat feet with toes; McCracken preferred them to look more symbolic of actual girls rather than going for a "realistic" look, meaning fewer body parts were needed.10 Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup normally wear dresses that match the colors of their eyes with black stripes, as well as white tights and black Mary Janes. The closing theme to the cartoon offers a nutshell description of the three Powerpuff Girls' personalities: Blossom, commander and the leader. Bubbles, she is the joy and the laughter. Buttercup, she is the toughest fighter. * Blossom (voiced by Cathy Cavadini) is the self-proclaimed leader of the Powerpuff Girls. Her personality ingredient is "everything nice", her signature color is pink, and she has long red hair with a red bow.11 She was named for having spoken freely and honestly to the Professor shortly after her creation as shown in The Powerpuff Girls Movie. She is often seen as the most level-headed, and composed member of the group and also strong and determined.11 Her unique power is freezing objects with her breath as seen in the episode "Ice Sore". * Bubbles (voiced by Tara Strong in the series and by Kath Soucie in the What a Cartoon! episodes) is the "softest and sweetest" of the three.11 Her personality ingredient is "sugar", her signature color is blue, and she has blonde hair in pigtails. Bubbles is seen as kind and very sweet but she is also capable of extreme rage and can fight monsters just as well as her sisters can. Her best friend is a stuffed octopus doll she calls "Octi", and she also loves animals. She exhibits the ability to both understand multiple languages and communicate with various animals (squirrels, cats, monsters), and her unique power is emitting supersonic waves with her voice. * Buttercup (voiced by E. G. Daily) is described as a "tough hotheaded tomboy".11 Her personality ingredient is spice, her signature color is green, and she has black hair in a flip. She loves to get dirty, fights hard and plays rough; she does not plan and is all action.11 Buttercup is the only Powerpuff Girl without a unique super power (aside from being able to curl her tongue as shown in the episode "Nuthin' Special").12 McCracken originally wanted to name the character "Bud" until a friend suggested the name Buttercup. Episodes Whoopass Stew A short was made by Craig McCracken while he was in college at CalArts. It was submitted to the Cartoon Network, and the name was changed as it was deemed inappropriate for younger audiences. Four of them were created, though only one was finished. The other three pilots are presented on the Complete Series DVD set accompanied by the original storyboards and their original audio. What a Cartoon! shorts Season 1 (1998–1999) Season 2 (1999–2000) Season 3 (2000–2001) Season 4 (2001–2002) Season 5 (2003–2004) Season 6 (2004–2005) Specials 10th Anniversary A special 22-minute episode was produced for the 10th anniversary, dating from the series' original airing on November 18, 1998. The episode aired on January 19, 2009, and is included as a bonus feature from the 10 anniversary DVD box set. Christmas Special/TV movie CGI Special On January 28, 2013, it was announced that a new CGI special titled "Dance Pantsed" starring the girls would premiere late 2013.58 By the end of the year however, it was announced that the special would air on January 20, 2014.59 Craig McCracken did not participate in the production and has had no say regarding the special. Home video releases The following is a list of DVD and VHS releases for The Powerpuff Girls. Eight VHS tapes and five DVDs were released in all, not including the complete series releases. Season one was first released in 2007 on Region 1 (US) and Region 4 (Australia); no other seasons where released separately in the United States, though seasons 2 and 3 were released in Australia. To mark the 10th anniversary of the show in 2009, the complete series DVD box set containing all the seasons, the Christmas TV movie, and "The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!" special was released in the US; in 2015, the complete series was released on DVD in Australia. Note: The Powerpuff Girls Movie was not a part of the series as shown originally on the air and as a result is not listed. Production During Craig McCracken's first year in the character animation program ofCalArts,13 he created a series of short cartoons based on a character called "No Neck Joe".5 In June 1991, he created a drawing of three girls on a small sheet of orange construction paper as a birthday card design for his brother.514 The following year he included the three girls as the main characters of his short film Whoopass Stew! The Whoopass Girls in: A Sticky Situation.15 Initially, McCracken wanted to animate four Whoopass Girls''shorts, but only one came to be.5 McCracken's shorts were selected to be shown at Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in 1994. While working on ''2 Stupid Dogs in 1992, McCracken's Whoopass Girls short was picked up for a series by Cartoon Network. However, the name Whoopass had to be dropped for the channel to include it as part of its new What a Cartoon! animated shorts showcase. McCracken explained it was because many executives at Cartoon Network didn't think that anyone would make toys for kids with the word "ass" in it. The Whoopass Girls then became The Powerpuff Girls, and the "can of whoop ass" was renamed "Chemical X".5 McCracken's new short, entitled "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins", aired as part the network's''World Premiere Toon-In'' on February 20, 1995.17 The short was not as popular as Dexter's Laboratory, a project McCracken and former classmate Genndy Tartakovsky (who also directed many episodes of Powerpuff Girls) worked on together; being the most popular of the shorts, Dexter's Laboratory was the first to be greenlit by the network.518 Cartoon Network executive Mike Lazzo (who later serve as the executive producer for Williams Street in the fifth season of Samurai Jack) allowed McCracken to produce a new Powerpuff Girls short titled "Crime 101", which aired on What a Cartoon! in early 1996. Announcer Ernie Anderson, the narrator of the pilot episodes, died of cancer in 1997, and he was replaced by Tom Kenny for the remainder of the series.19 The Powerpuff Girls series debut on November 18, 1998, was the highest rated premiere in Cartoon Network's history at the time. During its run, the series consistently scored the highest rating for an original series each week for the network across a wide range of demographics—from young children to adults.820 In October 2000, Cartoon Network credited the series for its Friday night prime time ratings win among cable networks.21 By the end of 2000, merchandising based on the series encompassed a whole variety of products, including T-shirts, toys, video games, lunchboxes, and dishware.8 Concerning the show's success, Craig McCracken has stated, "I thought it would get on Cartoon Network and college kids would watch it and there would be a few random T-shirts out there in the ravescene or in record shops. But I had no idea that it would take off to this extent."8 Following the series' fourth season, the closing of Hanna-Barbera Productions and the death of its executive William Hanna in 2001, McCracken left it to focus on his new animated series, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, leaving Chris Savino to take his place and the production of The Powerpuff Girls was moved to Cartoon Network Studios.5 The show's last original run episode was on March 25, 2005; in all, six seasons were made.22 Cartoon Network had offered to give McCracken and Savino a seventh season of the series, but they believed the series had run its course.5 All of the original episodes were hand-drawn and produced at Rough Draft Studios in South Korea,23 except the''What a Cartoon!'' shorts, with the first one being animated at Animal House in Japan and the second being animated at Fil Cartoons in the Philippines. James L. Venable, Thomas Chase, & Stephen Rucker composed the opening theme of the series, and Scottish band Bis performed the ending theme song,24 as played during the credits. The opening theme uses a sped-up drum break sample of "Funky Drummer" performed by Clyde Stubblefield.25 Tenth anniversary special In August 2008, McCracken revealed on his DeviantArt account, as had been announced in that year's Comic Con, that he was working with Cartoon Network on a new half-hour Powerpuff Girls special to celebrate the series' tenth anniversary.26 The special, titled "The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!", aired on the Pan-Euro Cartoon Network on November 29, 2008, on the Powerpuff Girls Birthday Marathon, and in the United States on January 19, 2009, as part of its 10th anniversary marathon. Unlike previous episodes in the series, the anniversary special was animated using Adobe Flash at Cartoon Network Studios.27 In March 2012, the series returned to Cartoon Network in reruns on the revived block, Cartoon Planet. Merchandise and media Film The Powerpuff Girls Movie was released in the United States on July 3, 2002, by Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network.41 The movie, a prequel to the series, tells the story of how the Powerpuff Girls were created, and how Mojo Jojo became a supervillain. After Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were created by Professor Utonium to help the city against crime, they end up only causing chaos in Townsville. Down about how everyone refers to them as freaks, they turn to Mojo Jojo, a monkey who says he is there to help make people like them again. Unknown to the girls, Mojo Jojo was Professor Utonium's lab chimp helper who was mutated as a cause from the Powerpuff Girls being made and has become super smart as a result and jealous of them. Mojo Jojo ends up tricking the girls into helping him make a machine to mutate other chimps. Seeing what they have done the kids run away in shame but come back after seeing Professor Utonium in trouble, and Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup end up beating Mojo Jojo and his army of mutated smart chimps and saving the day, thus becoming Townsville's new defenders.42 The movie received a rating of 63% at Rotten Tomatoes43 and received some criticism for the violence involved.44 In all, the movie grossed $16 million worldwide with an $11 million budget.45 Music Main article: List of The Powerpuff Girls soundtracks Three CD soundtracks were officially released for the series. The first, entitled Heroes & Villains, features original songs about the Powerpuff Girls characters by a number of artists, including the new wave group Devo, Bis, The Apples in Stereo and Frank Black.46 The first album did well, topping the Billboard's children's music chart for six weeks.6 Another album entitled, The City of Soundsville, features electronica-style character themes and also did well with critics.4748 The third album, entitled Power Pop, features a more teen-oriented variety of pop songs. The album was considered a "big disappointment" and not received as well.49 Parodies and comics A crossover parody of The Powerpuff Girls and 2 Broke Girls was done in Cartoon Network's TV series MAD's second season known as "2 Broke Powerpuff Girls". The parody which aired on January 30, 2012, is of Bubbles and Buttercup, who are broke and work for "Him" in a diner after the show got placed on permanent hiatus. Tara Strong(Bubbles) and Tom Kane ("Him") reprised their roles here.50 The MAD episode with the parody ranked #26/30 for the week with 1.903 million viewers.51 In February 2013, IDW Publishing announced a partnership with Cartoon Network to produce comics based on its properties and this series was one of the titles announced to be published.52 A fan-produced webcomic series called PowerPuff Girls Doujinshi was created in 2004 and released through Snafu Comics. The girls are shown to be a bit older, but with the same personalities as, their T.V. counterparts, and the comic includes many characters from other cartoon shows. The story has the kids now going to school in a neighboring city of Townsville known as Megaville.53 The comic was the "Outstanding Superhero Comic" and "Outstanding Character Art" winner on the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in 2005.54 Shortly after the 2014 CGI special's release, a comic which was published by IDW Publishing was withdrawn after retailers complained that they wanted to boycott the issue. The comic, which shows the Powerpuff Girls with breastsand dressed in latex, was designed by an artist who works for Cartoon Network. The artist was "thinking of it more along the lines of 'female empowerment' than the kind of thing you guys are talking about". Cartoon Network said in a statement: "We recognise some fans' reaction to the cover and, as such, will no longer be releasing it at comic book shops."55 Toys From August 21 to October 1, 2000, Subway promoted the series with four toys in their kids' meals.56 A set of six kids' meal toys was available as part of an April 2001 Dairy Queen promotion, which also included a sweepstakes offering the Powerpuff Girls VHS Boogie Frights.57 Jack in the Box released six Powerpuff Girls toys in July 2002 as a tie-in for The Powerpuff Girls Movie.58 On February 10, 2003, Burger King began a four-week promotion featuring''The Powerpuff Girls'' and Dragon Ball Z toys as well as special codes to redeem online for Cartoon Network's Cartoon Orbit.59 Video games Main article: List of The Powerpuff Girls video games Several video games were made for this show all being action in genre. The Powerpuff Girls: Bad Mojo Jojo, released on November 14, 2000, follows Blossom as she tries to beat Mojo Jojo.60 The game was called "simple and boring" by GameSpot and was a failure critically.6162 The Powerpuff Girls: Paint the Townsville Green, another game released in November 2000, follows Buttercup as she fights crime.63 The Powerpuff Girls: Battle HIM follows Bubbles in her fight against HIM and was released in February 2001.64 The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-traction was released in October 2001, where the girls battle enemies in a variety of settings in order to reclaim Chemical X and track down Mojo Jojo, who fed the material to all the villains in Townsville. IGN gave the game a positive review while giving the PSone version a 2.0/10 bad review.6566 The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage was released in November 2002. All three girls are playable in a 3D world, and the game received mixed reviews.67 The Powerpuff Girls: Mojo Jojo A-Go-Go released in 2001 centers around the name of the Powerpuff Girls' mission to stop Mojo Jojo and his minions. The game received mixed reviews.6869 The Powerpuff Girls: HIM and Seek was released in 2002 where the girls battle their variety of enemies through Townsville while on a scavenger hunt. The game received mostly positive reviews.70 PC games were also made for the series. These include: The Powerpuff Girls: Mojo Jojo Clone Zone, The Powerpuff Girls: Princess Snorebucks, The Powerpuff Girls: Mojo Jojo's Pet Project, and The Powerpuff Girls: Gamesville. Reception Critical reception In a 2000 Entertainment Weekly review, Marc Bernadin complimented the show on its "spot-on pop-culture acumen" and "unparalleled sense of fun", giving it a warm welcome from earlier "lame" superhero cartoons that he grew up with.75 Peter Marks of The New York Times noted the show's use of adult humor and pop culture references, declaring it "the sort of playful satire that can appeal as much to a viewer of 37 as 7."76 Joly Herman of Common Sense Media describes the show as a "cute, highly stylized series thrills the senses with its strange characters, funny situations, and lots of lowbrow humor". She goes on to say, however, that the show does go from innocent to violent in no time and that there is not much protecting young viewers against the violent undertones.77 Robert Lloyd of the''LA Times'' said that the series might be "transgressive" based on little violence but "also cute".78 TV Guide chose the Powerpuff Girls as No. 13 in a list of the 50 Greatest cartoon characters of all time.79 IGNranked the series 18th in its Top 25 Primetime Animated Series of All Time list in 2006.80 Delta Express promoted the series by having a Boeing 737-200 jet painted with a special livery featuring the characters Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup on its exterior.81 The plane's inaugural flight was held at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 17, 2000.82 In 2002 the aircraft was repainted with a different''Powerpuff Girls'' theme to promote The Powerpuff Girls Movie.83 The Powerpuff Girls series has won two Primetime Emmys, two Annie Awards, and including those four wins, has been nominated a total of sixteen times for various awards. Awards and nominations